Three men get long prison sentences in 2008 Louis Park killing

STOCKTON — Three men sentenced to long prison terms today couldn't hide behind youth for their participation in the Louis Park gang shooting last year that killed 13-year-old Aaron Kelly Jr.

By The Record

recordnet.com

By The Record

Posted Sep. 14, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Updated Sep 15, 2009 at 1:26 PM

By The Record

Posted Sep. 14, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Updated Sep 15, 2009 at 1:26 PM

» Social News

STOCKTON — Three men sentenced to long prison terms today couldn't hide behind youth for their participation in the Louis Park gang shooting last year that killed 13-year-old Aaron Kelly Jr.

Rattany Uy, a 5-foot-tall 18-year-old, barely filled his seat as he listened to a judge send him to prison for life without the possibility of parole. A jury found him guilty of a long list of charges including first-degree murder and the special circumstances of running with a gang.

Deandre Cole, 18, had pleaded guilty in a deal that gave him 30 years and eight months. He maintained at sentencing that he wasn't in a gang or carrying a gun that day. Both Uy and Cole were 17 at the time but they were tried as adults.

Michael Garduno, 20, blamed his youth for the crime that will put him in prison for 26 years. He was the only one of the defendants to make a statement in court. Despite a nervous grin in much of the emotional hearing, he apologized.

He spoke directly to Renee Garcia, Aaron's mother, saying her son didn't deserve what happened to him on Feb. 8, 2008.

“I was young and dumb,” he said. “It was a stupid mistake.”

The sentencing caps an 19-month case surrounding Aaron's death from a bullet that first hit his mother's arm as she franticly drove her son and two daughters away from the park. The same bullet struck Aaron's chest.

Aaron's family and friends next await the sentencing of Chanreamey Prum, the 23-year-old ring leader who spearheaded the shooting and fired the fatal shot. He is expected to be sentenced Oct. 6 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Read Tuesday's Record for more on this story by staff writer Scott Smith.